The painting Van Mander referred to was a depiction of what is known today as the
Anabaptist riot and was later destroyed in the fire which burned the city hall down in 1652. The
Anabaptist riot of Amsterdam or
Wederdopersoproer generally refers to an event on 10 May 1535 in which 40
Anabaptists occupied the city hall. The city guardsmen stormed the city hall and in the battle that ensued, the mayor
Peter Colijn, 20 militiamen and 28 Anabaptists were killed. The surviving Anabaptists were executed in a particularly gruesome manner: their hearts were cut out of their breasts while still alive, their bodies were drawn and quartered, and their heads were stuck on pikes and posted at the city gates. The painting in storyboard form was probably commissioned by the Amsterdam council to both depict the dead militiamen in scenes of heroic bravery, while serving as a warning to any future insurgents. For years the attribution of a portrait of the Amsterdam militiamen (''Militiamens' meal with 8 men'') was also given to Barend Dircksz. File:Barend Dircksz - Wederdopersoproer 10 May 1535 in Amsterdam RP-P-OB-78.501.jpg|One of the many prints after the lost painting, showing events from 10 May 1535 in Amsterdam - in lower right the mayor
Peter Colijn is being killed File:SA 7305-Schuttersmaaltijd met acht figuren.jpg|Militia piece, c. 1550 ==References==